The Butterfly Effect
by lirpa-chan
Summary: Change one thing, change everything...


The Butterfly Effect

Prologue

_It has been said something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world._ – **Chaos Theory**

"Give me your hands," Sakura demanded, scanning the area frantically as they came to a small clearing. They had finally made it to the heart of the woods. If all went as planned no one would catch on to the fact that they were missing for another hour or two. "We should be far enough from the village by now."

"Sakura-chan, are you sure that---"

"Just shut up and give me your hands!" the girl spat at the boy, close to tears. Her blond companion regarded her with a serious, anxious expression. He was having second thoughts about helping her escape from the hospital. Perhaps old man Hokage had been right; maybe Sakura had finally cracked…

"Naruto…" Sakura said softly, looking up pleadingly into the boy's eyes. "Please…"

Naruto's heart ached; he had never heard her sound so desperate, seen her so frail. Slowly, and maybe somewhat reluctantly, he held out his hands. The girl's lips quivered into a small smile before quickly faltering, tears beginning to slip down her face. "Okay," she breathed, disregarding the tears and taking the boy's hands into her own. "This is going to be- feel- strange," she stated quietly, gazing intently at the young man before her. "Are you ready?" Naruto nodded, swallowing his mounting anxiety. "Okay."

Sakura took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Quickly she began to form the seals she had done so often in the past few weeks, months, possibly even years--- she no longer had any concept of time. It was a little awkward since she had to form the spells using hers and Naruto's hands, but she had done it before and knew how to achieve the desired result. "Sasuke-kun," she murmured as she entered the last phase of seals.

Naruto watched the girl work his fingers into unfamiliar spells with a mixture of emotions. He was so scared for her; so worried. She stood before him deep in concentration, dressed in a hospital gown and looking as pale as the moon. She had a crude patient's tag slipped over her right wrist which most likely, if he had left her there, would have condemned her to the asylum. She was too bright, too precious to him to lose her to such a place. If he allowed her to indulge in this fantasy of hers then perhaps she would realize it wasn't real. Then, she'd come back to them; back to him…

A branch snapping in the distance caught the boy's ears. It appeared the old geezer had caught onto their plan sooner than they had anticipated. The former prankster craned his neck to see if there was any physical sign of dispatched ANBU members. Thankfully there wasn't, but if they didn't leave soon there would be. "Sakura-chan," the blond addressed, turning to face the girl again. "They're coming."

It was then that something strange caught his eye; a twinkling light--- no, a _fluttering_ light. "_But light doesn't flutter,"_ the boy thought to himself, watching the light dance around his head. Suddenly, another fluttering light appeared chasing the first, which was soon followed by another and another. Naruto stared at them perplexed for a moment before dropping his gaze to see if Sakura had found any of this weird. His eyes widened in shock at what he saw. Thousands of fluttering white lights flitted through the clearing. No… They weren't only white; colors had started to appear, followed by… Were those _images_? _Moving_ images?! "Sakura-chan," Naruto prompted in a state of near wonderment, "what are these?" As if on cue one of the lights flew over to him and perched itself right on his nose. Naruto examined it momentarily before coming to a conclusion. "Butterflies?"

"Don't look at them!" Sakura screeched, eyes snapping open, panic evident on her face. "Shut your eyes!"

Taken aback by the sudden outburst, but far too curious to adhere to his friend's wishes, he continued to gaze at the lights intrigued. "Why? They're only butterflies…"

"They're not _only butterflies_," Sakura replied fiercely. "They're part of the jutsu! Now please! Shut your eyes!" she implored.

"But--- ugh!" Naruto fell to one knee, his face scrunched up in pain. His head felt like it was going to explode. People, places, things, notable dates whizzed through his mind even though he had no previous recollection of any of them… "M-my head!"

"I told you!" Sakura cried. "Just keep your eyes shut. It should pass."

"What kind of butterflies are those!?" Naruto demanded, gritting his teeth from the excruciating pain. His grip on Sakura's hands tightened, but no sooner had the pain started it subsided, the newly obtained information trickling to a far corner in his mind. He slackened his grasp on the girl, panting a bit, but no longer in pain.

"They're not butterflies!" the girl exclaimed, exasperated. "They're _memories_!" Sakura watched the boys eyebrows knit together in obvious confusion, but he kept his eyes shut. She sighed, a bit out of relief, a bit out of frustration, but overall just glad that there was still someone out there who believed she wasn't _completely_ nuts. "I'll explain later," she assured. "But right now we have to find Sasuke-kun."

"Sasuke?!" Naruto exclaimed, a note of surprise and irritation in his voice. "But Sakura-chan, he's---"

"That's why I'm using this jutsu, silly," Sakura replied, allowing herself to indulge in a small smile. She then said sternly, "Now be quiet, I have to concentrate."

Naruto's mind wheeled. He didn't understand anything that was going on; not what the old geezer had told him about Sakura, not the weird butterfly-memory things, but especially not Sasuke, the boy with dark hair and sharp eyes that Sakura spoke of so fervently. Why would she risk everything to chase a mere fantasy?

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto began slowly, risking a glance at the girl. "This Sasuke guy… You know he's not real, right?"

"I know," Sakura replied serenely, eyes still closed. "And now I have to fix that."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I hope the Prologue has caught your attention because I have a feeling this may turn out to be a rather long fic. If you feel confused, don't worry, you're suppose to be :). All will be revealed in due time.

Eraya :)


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